Autism Spectrum Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder can be supported with Individual and family therapy, psychoeducational training and sensory support. Understanding how your child interprets the world around them is a critical starting point. At Barnett Counseling Services a 5-Point Star Approach is utilized to support clients and their families through a combination of individual and family therapy techniques and models. Therapy will focus on trust building, exploring and learning your child’s own special and unique language. In sessions, your child will learn how to explore their own unique gifts, talents and abilities and develop, “their” definition of what they bring to your family and to their world. I employ a strength-based language and modeling approach to behavioral issues to support the client families I serve. Focusing on the strengths allows reinforcement of desired behaviors and reduces unwanted negative behaviors that impact the child and family’s mental health stability.

Barnett Counseling Services 5-Point Star Approach:

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): Can be utilized to help children and parents to manage their problems by learning to recognize and understand how behaviors, thoughts and emotions affect each family member. In sessions there will be a focus on visual learning tools/aids, and connecting physical body sensations to aid the child and family with understanding the role of emotions and healthy communication skills. This can reduce negative thoughts, improve on your child’s self-esteem, and will model strength-based thinking skills in the process.
• Internal Family Systems (IFS): Can be utilized in teaching parents how to connect/identify with their children’s inner thoughts and feelings. This can aid your child with reduction of their anxiety and worry, increase self-esteem, improve mood and create a more hopeful outlook on life. Parents usually notice that when their child does something that would have triggered them in the past, they now are able to access positive qualities and strengths and remain patient, calm and compassionate with their child. This usually reduces power struggles and improves the parent-child relationship.
• Art Therapy/Play Therapy/Sand-Tray Therapy: Your child will learn enhanced communication through creative expression, improved imagination, greater abstract thinking skills, greater sensory regulation and the ability to build stronger relationships, with a focus on healthy communication skills at home, school and in the community. Alternative therapy can help support your child with sleep disruptions, emotional meltdowns, difficulty with transitions, improved attention and self-regulation.
• Sensory Diet/Sensory Processing Assessments: Family therapy will focus on the family becoming aware of sensory challenges, exploring sensory triggers and distinguishing these triggers from behaviors both at home and in the classroom setting. In family therapy we will develop a solution focused plan to best support sensory needs and explore what school and home accommodations are needed. A Sensory Diet can be created for your child honoring their strengths and needs with Sensory modulation, Sensory discrimination, Sensory-based motor skills, Internal regulation strategies and social/emotional role play. These results can then be supported with aiding the child’s family with how to share this with other family members, teachers and with siblings.
•  Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT): This unique family therapy model can aid your child with building positive parent-child interactions and increasing attachment and trust, reducing behavioral problems in children such as aggression, defiance, and anger and reducing the likelihood of child verbal and physical aggression, while increasing interaction and healthy communication skills. Your child will also learn pro-social behaviors such as increased eye contact, sharing of toys, increased vocabulary and use of strength-based words. Parents will model praise to their children, while teaching them how to learn and connect to positive emotions and self-regulation by repetitive example.